Lifeboat at the End of the World is Dominic Gregory’s account of their time joining and volunteering for the Dungeness crew of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI).
The Author’s Note reminds the reader that the RNLI is a public fundraising charity, remaining independent of government and over 95 per cent of its shore and boat crew are volunteers. The blurb describes this as Dominic’s story – and it is, but it’s also a lived experience of a community, both of people and place, and how a steadfast constant of the Dungeness lifeboat service has navigated the changes and challenges across 200 years.
The writing moves easily between personal experience and historical context, of the area, people and Institution history. Dominic moves through his own story from their first hesitant phone call of interest after moving to Dungeness, the fraudulent feelings through training, to then receiving their Institution pager; and journey from shore crew to the eventual choice and accompanying coxswain’s nod to climb up and participate in life on deck and in the wheelhouse.
There is an easy-going manner and calmness to the author’s writing, it’s reflective, it spends time on observations and nature, and it manages the challenging subject matter of human loss humanely and without sensation. Some might find the lack of chapter structure unusual, but as a non-fiction read it flows as a continuous story and there are breaks throughout that make it natural to pause and return. The cover is also gorgeously graphic, catching the eye.
As a reader who has lived inland throughout their life, it’s an eye-opening read of the men and women who brave the seas and support from shore, giving their time and livelihoods, to preserve human life, and a book I would recommend. It prompted many a thought and search engine use afterwards, the history of the RNLI, of Dungeness and a human, unpoliticised experience of refugees crossing the English Channel.
About the Book
For two hundred years, the Dungeness lifeboat has launched in storms and heavy seas to frigates and barques, trawlers and dinghies. Like all lifeboat stations in the British Isles, it is led by a Coxwain and staffed entirely by volunteers. Dominic Gregory is one of those volunteers and serves as part of her crew..
Dungeness is itself a place apart. An ever-shifting expanse of shingle jutting south-east into the English Channel, it is overshadowed by its nuclear power station and made famous by Derek Jarman’s flotsam garden. Dungeness is also where millions of migrating birds and insects first make landfall in the British Isles. A small place perhaps, but one that finds itself now at the centre of one of the biggest political stories of modern times.
At the heart of this wonderful book is the lifeboat crew with whom Dominic Gregory serves, many of whom come from families who have crewed the lifeboat for generations. These are remarkable yet ordinary men and women – who serve as shore crew, or boat crew, or who keep the records and brew the tea. All, in their different ways, give up their time, livelihoods and safety to brave wind, tide and storms, not to mention the peril of navigating between the vast floating skyscrapers that make up so much of modern shipping. Then there is Coxwain Stuart Adams whose quiet, competent leadership ensures he acts as the still point in a spinning world.
With echoes of James Rebanks’ The Shepherd’s Life or Patrick Hennessy’s The Junior Officer’s Reading Club, Lifeboat at the End of the World is the first book to depict the experience of what it is like to volunteer on a lifeboat; the smells of the station, the emotions when the call to ‘a shout’ comes, how the crew is trained, the teamwork and trust, the ethos of the service. And incident aplenty – terrifying rescues both past and present, often to rescue overladen inflatable small craft and their desperate passengers. Gregory’s book is non-fiction writing of extraordinary power and immediacy. Whilst most of us will never serve in a lifeboat, we might well find ourselves one day thankful for their unquestioning and dauntless assistance at sea.
About The Author
Dominic Gregory volunteers on the Dungeness lifeboat. He lives in Kent and London. Lifeboat at the End of the World is his first book.
Purchase the Book
This book can be purchased in our store either on its own or in a cosy Book Box.
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